Green Tea Catechin Epigallocatechin Gallate Inhibits Vegetative Cell Outgrowth and Expression of Beta-Lactamase Genes in Penicillin-Resistant Bacillus anthracis Strain PCr

• Published in: Pathogens Vol. 13; no. 8; p. 699
• Main Authors: Okutani, Akiko, Morikawa, Shigeru, Maeda, Ken
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Switzerland MDPI AG 19.08.2024; MDPI
• Subjects: Anthrax; Anti-Bacterial Agents - pharmacology; Antibiotics; Antimicrobial activity; Bacillus anthracis; Bacillus anthracis - drug effects; Bacillus anthracis - genetics; Bacteria; beta-lactamase; beta-Lactamases - genetics; beta-Lactamases - metabolism; Catechin; Catechin - analogs & derivatives; Catechin - pharmacology; Epigallocatechin gallate; Gene Expression Regulation, Bacterial - drug effects; Genes; Genomes; Gram-positive bacteria; Green tea; green tea catechin; Medicine; Meropenem; Meropenem - pharmacology; Microbial Sensitivity Tests; Minimum inhibitory concentration; Penicillin; Penicillin Resistance - genetics; penicillins; Penicillins - pharmacology; R; Spores; Spores, Bacterial - drug effects; Spores, Bacterial - genetics; Staphylococcus infections; Tea - chemistry; Variance analysis; Vegetative cells; β Lactamase; United States > US; Japan; penicillin; Bacillus anthracis; beta-lactamase; green tea catechin
• ISSN: 2076-0817; 2076-0817
• DOI: 10.3390/pathogens13080699

The green tea catechin epigallocatechin gallate (EGCg) has antimicrobial effects on many bacteria. In this study, we investigated the inhibitory effects of EGCg on Bacillus anthracis spores and vegetative cells. The B. anthracis spores were insensitive to EGCg, but the growth of vegetative cells derived from germinated spores was inhibited by EGCg. Moreover, EGCg decreased the minimum inhibitory concentration of penicillin and meropenem for penicillin-resistant B. anthracis. In the penicillin-resistant B. anthracis strain, the transcription levels of the beta-lactamase genes (bla1 and bla2) decreased significantly following the treatment with 50 µg/mL EGCg. These results suggest that the appropriate application of EGCg may effectively control the penicillin-resistant B. anthracis growth and beta-lactamase production.